It's the One, but embiggened

The One Max has a whopping 5.9in display - a tad larger than the 5.7in Note 3's screen - and as expected it packs in a 1920 x 1080 resolution with 373ppi.

While it looks nearly identical to the HTC One with its dual front-facing (now Beat-less) BoomSound speakers and metal construction, there are a few differences, including white plastic edges that are similar to those found on the HTC One Mini.

The back cover is removable, and taking it off reveals the microSIM slot and - storage fans rejoice - a microSD slot for expandable memory.

Sadly the battery is still non-removable, but it measures in at a hefty 3,300mAh and should offer plenty of juice to feed that ravenous display.

Sitting beneath the rear camera is a fingerprint reader which can be used to unlock the phone. You can also select three apps to open automatically after you've assigned them to three individual fingers (something we were really hoping Touch ID could do). Unlike the iPhone 5s' Touch ID sensor though, you have to swipe your fingertips over the reader to scan them.

Under the hood

The One Max is powered by a 1.7Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB of RAM, which on paper makes it less powerful than rivals like the Galaxy Note 3, Sony Xperia Z Ultra and LG G2.

Still, specs aren't everything and we're looking forward to seeing how the One Max stands up to the real world in our full review.

The 4MP Ultrapixel camera from the One returns (minus the optical image stabilisation), and there's a 2MP front-facing camera for selfies and video calls.

The One Max will debut with HTC Sense 5.5 on Android 4.3, which adds a few tweaks to Blinkfeed in addition to other minor changes.

While there's no specific price or release date for the time being, we're told that the One Max will hit shelves by the end of this week, so not too long to wait for gadgeteers looking for a super-sized One.